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ePortfolios >> Hi-Octane Assessment
8/16/2005
McGee admits that student response to these pilot programs has been tepid so far, but technologists are confident that as the program matures, so too will its user base. Elsewhere in the university, faculty are more enthusiastic. Representatives from the College of Engineering recently expressed interest in building an ePortfolio program specifically for this year’s incoming freshmen, to help them build an online repository for every document and spreadsheet they create during their time on campus. Other departments have expressed an interest in the technology as well, according to Cathy Kolongowski, Instructional Technology analyst.
Kolongowski recalls that when Villanova first rolled out WebCT (www.webct.com) in 1999, users were slow to adapt to the new technology at first, but ultimately embraced it wholeheartedly. “People generally are fearful of change,” she says. “But just as our users eventually embraced WebCT, I predict ePortfolios will become second nature before we know it, too.”
The Rookie
The future is even brighter for technologists at St. Lawrence University, where a recent implementation of ANGEL ePortfolio from Angel Learning (www.angellearning.com) kicked off in May 2005. Technologists at the small liberal arts school had been looking for a way to modernize and standardize the assessment system and provide students with a place to keep all of the files they create during their time in school.
After being approached by Angel Learning in January 2005, IT System Administrator Jedediah Hock says the school agreed to beta test the technology. The school tried out the Angel Learning tool in one small course, and feedback was excellent. One month later, St. Lawrence had inked a contract to roll out the technology on a broader scale.
This month, Hock and other technologists will introduce ePortfolio technology to 250 freshmen and 15 faculty members. Interestingly, the university will rely on ePortfolios not only as a place for teachers to assess student progress in achieving learning goals of the program, but also as a site for reflection in the academic planning process. The template for the new ePortfolios includes an area that closely resembles the current-day blog—an area where students will be encouraged to share insights with others and invite feedback from classmates, so they can work through issues together. By encouraging students to blog about their experiences, St. Lawrence officials are hoping to learn as much about the process and the student experience as they will about student performance overall.
“One of the main reasons we’re using ePortfolios is because we think they will be useful for our students to draw connections between their coursework and their broader academic goals and plans,” Hock says. “Providing help in learning more effectively [comes with] connecting your life and learning experiences into a cohesive whole, and we are highly committed to new technologies that accomplish that goal.”
Matt Villano is senior contributing editor of this publication.
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